Lalas Tells Us It Was Never About Football

It sickens me when these supposed football “analyst” come on ESPN and try to force feed me the fact that Beckham’s arrival to the MLS would be great for American football(or soccer) and how the game would improve with his addition…..bollocks!!!

It was always about tickets and merchandising sales for the MLS and L.A. Galaxy. Why the f**k else would Lalas be bitching about Beckham’s inclusion to the England side that would be facing Brazil and Estonia. We’ll put aside asking how the heck he got the galls to be warning others about future Beckham England selection, or how the hell he is a GM after his shit job at Red Bull and tackle what he means by “inappropriate friendlies”. Such comments show the level of ignorance on his part to football outside of the Northern American borders. When is a friendly inappropriate? Never! Teams are constantly trying to achieve the right blend of starting eleven, the right tactical adjustment to place during key situations and even evaluate the development of players before key tournaments. With England in such a disarray with their form every friendly game is crucial to deciding which player is to be among the starting eleven. These games are even more crucial to David Beckham who desperately wants to prove his worth (and quite possibly attain his 100th cap for the Three Lions).

One would think Lalas should understand the importance it is for a player, who many believe is way passed his prime, to be called to represent his national side. But Lalas isn’t a footballer anymore but a businessman, a businessman who realizes that a lot is riding on the two foot of his most prized asset. The MLS, along with multiple partners also footing the bill, paid a shit load of money to bring this guy to northern America and are hoping he will pay dividend by increasing popularity of the sport by way of bringing in more television advertising and increased ticket sales to the stadiums he visits. All these would therefore become a pipe dream if to say Beckham were to sustain an injury that would keep him out from his season opener with the Galaxy or even worse keep him injured past the season opener.

I was never a huge fan of Beckham’s call up but Lalas can be rest assured that his prized possession’s call-up is only temporary and would be over after the second game against Estonia for the Euro qualifiers. Plus once he’s finally in a Galaxy uniform Lalas should even breath more easier as I doubt any more future Beckham selection. Why you ask? The MLS doesn’t provide the level of competition and intensity as other leagues do and such quality are essential to a player staying at the top of his game. Case in point, Paulo Angel who couldn’t sniff a goal in the Premiere League has racked up 3 goals in his 3 starts for the New York Red Bulls in the MLS. People see such cases and think the level of competition isn’t that great. Further proof is evident in the minimal number of international players in the MLS representing their respective national teams.